Belfountain singer Marcia Barnes releases debut album
By ALAN LICZYK

The debut album of a rising Belfountain singer is now ready for release.

Marcia Barnes, 20, finished recording My Latin Roots after less than five months. The album she produced features 14 of her songs composed in English, Spanish and French.

"I wanted to explore my Latin background," she said. "I wrote all summer with a Latin focus."

She explained she's a natural jazz musician, but decided to challenge herself to the secrets of Latin music.

The project came together with the help of a great team of international musicians, including Colombian musician and co-producer Luis Ariel Rey. He played percussion, Tom Wolf was on drums, Joe Orlando performed bass, Kent (Max) MacMillan was on guitar and Luis Deniz played saxophone. Danielle Dixon, 9, provided chorus vocals on the song "Open Window." Barnes provided vocals, all keyboards and digital sounds.

The album was engineered by Brian Hewson and recorded at Escarpment Sound Studio in Acton. It was mixed by Hewson and Rey, and mastered by Andrew St. George. Photography for the CD

was done by Sara Emmerson, art direction and design was done by Marcia's mother, Susana Barnes, and graphics were provided by Chad Seip Design & Out of Control Entertainment Graphics Team.

The album will be available for purchase at the Web site: marciabarnes.com.

Barnes went back to pursue her music career after making the difficult decision to leave Jackson State University in Alabama, a place she considered home for the past two years. She did it with overwhelming support from her faculty and peers - some of her biggest fans. She was a dedicated member of the college tennis team and achieved recognition on the President's Honor List in both her freshman and sophomore years.

Her musical talent was noticeable early on when at age 13, only a few months after beginning classical piano and vocal lessons, she wrote her first song, "Later Years." Since then she's recorded

many original songs - mostly jazz-inspired - and has been a star attraction at many shows and competitions. This past spring she won first place at the JSU Star, Jackson State University's annual talent show.

Most recently, Barnes performed all of the songs from her debut album to a packed crowd during Pub Night at the Belfountain Inn.

She will also be holding a CD Release Party at the Royal Ambassador Banquet & Conference Centre in Caledon East tomorrow (Thursday) at 6:30 p.m. For tickets, reply to outofcontrolmedia@ gmail.com. The evening will include fine dining, dancing and entertainment for all ages.